Sutton Bingham - Sat 11 Apr

A mid-morning visit was enjoyable but not that rewarding with regard to birds! That being said I did add Linnet to the patch year list with a pair being seen near the Canoe Club. There were still four Little Egrets present and a few Swallows knocking around.

Sutton Bingham - Fri 10 Apr

A little over an hour spent at the reservoir before work today paid dividends with the undoubted highlight being a fly-through female Merlin! Coming from nowhere it whizzed past me low across the meadow south of the Canoe Club before crossing the road and heading purposefully north.
Little Egrets were still evident, with at least eight being present. A pair of Teal were spooked from the water's edge, as was a single Snipe. Still nothing in the way of migrants other than a few "new" Chiffchaffs. Robins seemed to be everywhere though, with ten or more being seen/heard.
A return visit on my way home from work produced the first Common Sandpiper of the year!
Sutton Bingham year list for 2015 now at 72 species.

Sutton Bingham - Thu 9 Apr

I've managed a few flying visits to the reservoir over the last few days, but not seen much in the way of birds and hardly anything with regard to Spring migrants. It was pretty much the same today, but I did get a good patch year tick in the form of a third-winter Great Black-backed Gull which was feeding on a fish carcass on the far back opposite the northern causeway in the afternoon. Great Black-backed Gull is not a species I ever guarantee seeing annually at Sutton Bingham, so a good bird to see.
Over the past couple of days a few Little Egrets have been seen, today that number rose to an impressive ten birds, all on the far bank between the car park and Canoe Club.

Sutton Bingham - Mon 6 Apr

I just about managed to get to the reservoir today, and spent a little under an hour on patch late afternoon. Amazingly a flock of twenty-one Tufted Ducks had appeared and were viewable from the Canoe Club (apparently another four were on West Pool but I missed these), this is the highest count of Tufted Ducks for years...and they were all gone on Tuesday morning!
A Little Egret was also present from the Canoe Club and six Swallows passed through north. A pale Buzzard caused a little excitement later in the evening!

Sutton Bingham - Sun 5 Apr

A quick visit to the reservoir mid-morning failed to yield much in the way of spring migrants other than a single fly-through Swallow and a few "new" Chiffchaffs. The southern end of the reservoir provided a little interest with a pair of Mandarin being present, as were a pair of Teal. A sub-adult Peregrine whizzed through in an attempt to disturb potential prey, failed miserably and alighted on a pylon. Four Treecreepers spent a little time chasing each other through the trees. The only birds of note at the northern end of the reservoir were three drake Tufted Ducks.

Abbotsbury - Fri 3 Apr

A pleasant afternoon spent at Abbotsbury produced some cracking birds. Starting off with a visit to the Swannery I finally (after three or four attempts) connected with the long-staying Greenland Whitefront Goose, and it was showing very well from within the Swannery grounds.

Continuing the walk around the Swannery I scanned the Fleet and soon located the four Long-tailed Ducks, but they were far too distant for me to even attempt a photo. I decided against a walk out to the meadow hide as it was rather muddy and wet but it didn't matter too much as I had already successfully 'scoped the Black-winged Stilt from the Swannery entrance! This is the second Black-winged Stilt I'd seen on the meadow pool, the other being seen in April 2012.
Leaving the Swannery I drove round to the Sub-tropical Gardens and rounded off a lovely afternoon with some rather good views of a singing Firecrest!

Sutton Bingham - Tue 31 Mar

A brief visit on Monday evening produced my first Swallow of the year at Sutton Bingham, and a return visit 24 hours later added Sand Martin to the patch year list, with half a dozen hawking over the trees at the southern end of the reservoir in the company of another Swallow.
Also tonight, a small flock of fourteen Wigeon were still present at the southern end of the reservoir as were ten Teal and a pair of Tufted Duck.
Sutton Bingham year list for 2015 now at 69 species.